Inside the Yuanrong Tower, Xie Hongchen fought against Shi Wenyu with all his cultivation power.

He was trapped within the tower, and at this moment, the Yuanrong Tower was no longer the majestic, solemn treasure it had appeared when he first entered.

Those people who had been tortured until only pain and hatred remained were trapped within the arrays and talismans, forged into this “divine artifact” that shocked the immortal sects.

Shi Wenyu moved through the tower walls, seizing his opportunity to suddenly coil and strike, wanting to take the chance to kill Xie Hongchen. With his Heart Sword in hand, Xie Hongchen turned and struck with one sword. The sword light fell, and Shi Wenyu could only retreat!

Xie Hongchen quickly discovered that his combat power had already greatly diminished.

—His current physical body was simply too weak.

Bodies in the mortal realm that could withstand the Lingmo Ghost Scripture cultivation method were not many to begin with.

Otherwise, how could Xie Lingbi’s physical body have collapsed at just six hundred years old?

Xie Hongchen used the advantage of his bloodline, wanting to seize the opportunity to kill Shi Wenyu.

Shi Wenyu could only hide carefully.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, chaos had already erupted throughout the land.

Although He Xijin and the others had broken through the Yuanrong Tower’s protective barrier, the entire tower suddenly transformed!

Black resentful energy shot skyward. It stripped away the divine artifact’s ancient simplicity, revealing the true nature of a demonic artifact!

The others were blocked by this resentful energy. When they tried to enter, they immediately disappeared, their whereabouts unknown.

He Xijin and the others didn’t know whether this was auspicious or ominous and could only surround the Yuanrong Tower. At this moment, Zhang Shujiu suddenly pointed into the distance, saying, “Look over there!”

Everyone raised their heads and saw a pine tree in the distance slowly melting. Like a burning candle, it dissolved particle by particle into beads before finally collapsing with a thunderous crash. Wu Zichou rushed forward to investigate. He bent down and scooped up the remains of the ancient pine, only to discover it was a handful of yellow sand!

The entire world was slowly melting!

“What’s happening?” Qiu Cailing, Kang Xuetong, and the other elders all looked bewildered.

Everyone went forward to investigate and saw that beneath the accumulated snow, the withered grass would turn to sand one moment, then be slowly restored by some strange force the next. But the restorative power was gradually weakening.

Qiu Cailing concentrated deeply in thought. After a long while, he said, “It’s the Heavenly Dao. An evil thing like the Yuanrong Tower has accumulated who knows how much power. Shi Wenyu wants to use it to destroy the Heavenly Dao and establish a new order!”

His words horrified everyone. Even among those who cultivated immortality and pursued the Dao, who would dare entertain such thoughts?

What kind of ambition must one have to conceive the delusion of destroying the Heavenly Dao and replacing it?

Zhang Shujiu gazed at the gradually scattering yellow sand and said, “The Heavenly Dao’s restoration is becoming slower and slower. We cannot just sit and wait for death.”

Everyone returned to stand before the Yuanrong Tower, observing this evil tower.

Qiu Cailing said solemnly, “Our sect’s Sect Master Xie Hongchen is currently subduing demons within the tower. We must all work together to assist him!”

He Xijin rolled his eyes and added, “Di… Di…”

Zhang Shujiu then supplemented, “There’s also Di Yiqiu and Huang Rang!”

These old fossils from Yuhu Xuanzong—their eyes opened when there was profit to be gained, but they shrank back when danger appeared!

Several people inwardly cursed.

At this moment, Huang Rang walked step by step through the windswept sandy streets.

The skeletal remains buried in the yellow sand had long lost their identities and names. She walked step by step through the streets of the capital.

Occasionally there would be a creaking sound as a tavern sign fell down, shattering into yellow sand on the ground.

Huang Rang finally understood where all this wind and sand came from.

The entire world was turning to sand.

Those withered grasses, dead trees, and more fragile objects had long since been corroded. This world seemed devoid of people.

After walking for so long, Huang Rang couldn’t help but break into a run.

She arrived beneath the inner city gate, where skeletal remains were everywhere.

These bones hadn’t completely turned to sand yet. Huang Rang searched through them one by one.

“Di Yiqiu—” She called out for this person, but the ground was full of dried bones, with no clothing, leaving her no way to identify them.

“Auntie—Uncle—” She called out one by one for these familiar people.

Only the wind answered.

Was this… the mortal realm in the near future?

Huang Rang sat among the skeletal remains scattered across the ground as yellow sand filled her face.

In this entire world, it seemed only she remained.

Meanwhile, Di Yiqiu was still trapped in the fifth year of Chengyuan.

This was his darkest period. In this entire world, there was no Huang Rang. He had lost everything from the Third Dream. Instead, he had fallen into the abyss of a nightmare.

His physical strength was weak—not only did he have no combat ability, he couldn’t even manage to walk out of this place. He could only lean against the bed, staring at the Nine-Curve Spirit Pupil on the wall.

Within the Nine-Curve Spirit Pupil, Huang Rang was dancing.

Her dancing actually wasn’t very good, and Di Yiqiu had seen far too many dancers in the palace.

Among a cluster of orchids, Huang Rang practiced the same dance over and over. Because there was no musician, it seemed quite awkward. To make matters worse, she carelessly twisted her ankle.

Di Yiqiu seemed to have fallen back into those desperate, helpless days. He stared at the woman on the wall, watching as her dance movements gradually became soft and ethereal.

By the end, there was even an air of allure and charm.

Di Yiqiu didn’t know whether Huang Rang had performed this dance for Xie Hongchen.

Perhaps Xie Hongchen had seen her most perfect form.

But from a thousand miles away, he had remotely witnessed this person’s awkwardness and stubbornness.

Inside the Yuanrong Tower, how could Xie Hongchen not know that crisis approached and time was urgent?

But Shi Wenyu was extremely wary of him. Like those old fossils from Yuhu Xuanzong, he was unwilling to risk his life unless absolutely necessary. And Xie Hongchen’s blood had its limits.

—As long as he lost too much blood, the Yuanrong Tower would naturally return to his own hands. When that time came, would he need to worry about finding an opportunity to kill him?

Shi Wenyu was clearly in no hurry.

Xie Hongchen moved through a patch of black mist. The Yuanrong Tower’s runes spun rapidly, and some scenes overlapped like layers of time, seeming real yet illusory.

He passed through the black mist, and before his eyes appeared the Qilu Platform from many years ago.

He saw white walls and black tiles, with a crescent-shaped archway in the middle.

Xie Hongchen stepped inside and saw a small courtyard with one pavilion and one pond. In the triangular pavilion were stone tables and stools, with a plum tree standing beside it. In the pond, several fish swam back and forth, playing.

In that instant, memories were like unstoppable sand, overwhelming him from all directions.

Xie Hongchen walked in. Inside the room at a small table sat Huang Rang.

That night, she wore light gauze. Xie Hongchen couldn’t even tell how many years ago this was.

Since marrying him, Huang Rang had always carefully maintained her body. She hadn’t changed much.

“Ah Rang?” When Xie Hongchen spoke again, he discovered his voice contained a trace of choking emotion.

He was like a traveler who had been lost for many years and finally returned home. But Huang Rang at the small table seemed not to hear his voice at all.

With her hands propping up her chin, she gazed out the window. As if impatient from waiting, she drew her light gauze closer around herself and murmured, “Won’t he come again tonight?”

She seemed unaware as she passed through Xie Hongchen and went to the crescent archway to look out.

“Ah Rang?” Xie Hongchen called to her again.

She turned around. In that instant, wild joy surged in Xie Hongchen’s heart—he even thought Huang Rang had seen him. But Huang Rang only sighed. She rubbed her face and said to herself with a smile, “Huang Rang oh Huang Rang, your husband is just a bit busy. You must be a virtuous wife and not look worried and distressed.”

Having said this, she walked to the small table, unrolled a scroll of scripture, apparently wanting to copy it.

But after picking up the brush and copying only a few characters, she tossed it aside.

“Heaven knows what an unquiet person I am.” She sighed while walking to the small pavilion, sitting on the stone stool to wait quietly.

Xie Hongchen suddenly understood—she couldn’t see him.

He was inside the Yuanrong Tower. This was merely some scenes the tower had replicated in order to destroy the Heavenly Dao, following its logic.

The Huang Rang before his eyes would forever wait in that summer.

Unable to hear his call.

Xie Hongchen forced himself to leave. He wasn’t someone who would sink into memories.

Huang Rang was still outside the dream—he could still pursue her. Why linger over the past?

He forced himself to be cold and unfeeling, but why, when leaving, couldn’t he help but look back?

A hundred years at Qilu Platform—he had never thought about what Huang Rang did when he didn’t come.

In his impression, she had always seemed quite fulfilled.

She would befriend everyone in the sect, constantly making embroidery and pastries, being clever and ingratiating to win people’s hearts.

She would requisition rice and medicine, distribute porridge and medicine to gain a reputation for generosity and righteousness.

She would sing and dance gracefully for him to win his favor.

How could such a person have such waiting and loneliness?

Xie Hongchen shattered the past before him with one sword. The sword light scattered in all directions, splashing onto the ground as the black mist dispersed.

Shi Wenyu still didn’t dare show himself. He observed the runes on the tower walls—he had to quickly find the location of the demonic tower’s array core.

But those old matters that should have disappeared like smoke came one after another, page by page.

He stepped forward and found himself stepping into Diaincui Peak, the Yiyun Hall.

This time, he saw himself at the desk, bending over a book.

“Sect Master, your wife requests an audience.” A disciple outside the hall reported respectfully.

His past self at the desk frowned slightly and said, “Let her in.”

Xie Hongchen was slightly stunned. He walked before his “past self” and indeed, no one could see him. Past events had passed and couldn’t be changed.

He could only watch as outside the hall, Huang Rang carried a food box, walking toward this place step by step.

At that time, there was still light in her eyes. Seeing her husband, she said with a smile, “Knowing my husband is busy today, I specially made porridge. Try it first—is it good?”

But at the desk, “Xie Hongchen’s” voice was even cold. He said, “Leave it here, then withdraw.”

Huang Rang was slightly stunned. Xie Hongchen’s sudden coldness clearly puzzled her.

But passing through this moment, Xie Hongchen understood all too well.

He didn’t allow Huang Rang to come to Diaincui Peak, yet he couldn’t refuse her entry—if he did that, the outside world would likely have many speculations, thinking their marriage was troubled.

So he could only be cold. He had to let Huang Rang know that outside Qilu Platform was not a place for romantic sentiment.

And the newly married Huang Rang clearly wasn’t quite accustomed to such sudden distance.

She acknowledged with a sound, placed the food box on the table, and looked once more at her husband behind the desk.

Xie Hongchen paid her no further attention.

She could only say softly, “Then… then remember to taste it.”

The person behind the desk didn’t even respond this time, only saying, “Withdraw.”

She finally said nothing more.

Xie Hongchen followed her out and discovered the smile on her face disappeared the instant she turned around.

However, when she walked outside the hall and encountered the hall guardian disciples, she raised her face in a smile again. That smile was dignified and appropriate, as if… she hadn’t suffered any grievance at all.

She greeted everyone she passed in a friendly manner.

She could already remember everyone’s names.

Xie Hongchen wanted to follow her a bit further. But this was merely a fragmented scene.

After walking not far, the path ahead was already lost.

He had lost track of her.

Actually, he really wanted to return to Yiyun Hall to see what porridge she had made that day.

But he couldn’t.

When a hundred years of time flew by like a shuttle, past events were obliterated layer upon layer in memories.

There was no turning back.